[Koha] Re: CDDB

[Peter Houppermans]

> Have no idea what CDDB is. Always best to define acronyms and abbreviations
that might not be clear to all. At
> least that way, we all may learn something. 

CDDB = CD Database (OK, Compact Disk Database to be pedantic :-).

See <http://www.gracenote.com/music/corporate/FAQs.html/faqset=what/page=1>.
CDDB used to be a collective database effort to tag CD contents (on insertion of
a CD, a checksum would be generated which, in turn, interrogated the collective
database to get the contents out.  It isn't 100% proof because the checksum
method wasn't sufficiently granular to prevent repeats (more or less akin to the
problem that plagues biometric identification of individuals).

It's been superceded by a free version (www.freeddb.org) as the
commercialisation appeared to have taken the work of many and made money for a
few, creating the sort of money based unhappiness Douglas Adams reported on in
his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy :-).

I think it was mentioned as an example of a database where an identifier (the
checksum) would pull out complete details, and as far as I know a similar idea
exists for ISBN codes.  But I'm not a librarian, just someone who's trying to
find a decent solution for a home library :-).

-P-